5 of the Best New Stocks of Q2 2014

These IPO hits have run off returns of more than 70% in just a few short months

Best New Stocks of Q2 – #2, Vital Therapies (VTL)

Return: 129%

Vital Therapies’ (VTL) product is the ELAD System, which is a cell-based bio-artificial liver support system that operates outside a person’s body and helps to regenerate the patient’s liver. Even if the liver does not become healthy, ELAD will provide more time for a transplant — important considering the long waiting lines for such a procedure.

The drug has received the orphan designation in the U.S. and Europe (acute liver disease impacts at least 60,000 per year). This means the company is eligible for valuable tax credits as well as seven years of market exclusivity in the U.S. and 10 years in Europe.

Based in Silicon Valley, Tom Taulli is in the heart of IPO land. On a regular basis, he talks with many of the top tech CEOs and founders trying to find the next hot deals and finding out which start-ups are stinkers.

A long-time follower of the IPO scene, back in 1999 Tom started one of the first sites in the space called WebIPO. It was a place where investors got research as well as access to deals for the dot-com boom. Tom also wrote the top-selling book, Investing in IPOs. In it, he covers all the aspects of analyzing an IPO, such as reading the prospectus, detecting the risk factors and understanding some of the arcane regulations. But don’t worry — if that process is too intimidating for you, thankfully Tom will do the legwork for you right here in the IPO Playbook blog.

Tom is routinely quoted in the media about upcoming deals with his interviews on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, but he is eager to take your questions too. You can message him on Twitter at @ttaulli. And feel free to weigh in via the comments section on any of his IPO Playbook posts.